Upton is home to the National Collection of Asters
Even though the weather looked miserable we fancied a day out on Good Friday and so decided on the safe bet of Hidcote. However, en route Wendy spotted Upton House in the National Trust handbook and we altered our bearings.
What a surprise and what a delight! Even the journey through the drizzly Cotswolds proved to be a spectacle with so many variations of green as the new leaves were making their appearance and so much blossom in hedgerows and trees.
Even though the weather looked miserable we fancied a day out on Good Friday and so decided on the safe bet of Hidcote. However, en route Wendy spotted Upton House in the National Trust handbook and we altered our bearings.
What a surprise and what a delight! Even the journey through the drizzly Cotswolds proved to be a spectacle with so many variations of green as the new leaves were making their appearance and so much blossom in hedgerows and trees.
The hat is to prove what a dreary day it was.
How come we've never heard of Upton House before? Not much from the outside but you get a taste of country house life as you step into the home of the 1930s' millionaire Walter Samue
l, 2nd Viscount Bearsted, who was Chairman of Shell and son of the company's founder. He was a passionate art collector, and there are works by artists such as Hogarth, Stubbs, Canaletto, Brueghel and El Greco as well as a fascinating collection of artwork produced for Shell advertisements. The extensive porcelain collection which includes 18th-century Sèvres porcelain, Chelsea and Derby figures was mind blowing. Upton has all the elements of a millionaire's country home – with swimming pool, squash court (currently being renovated) and a glamourous Art Deco interior in Lady Bearsted's bathroom. Even on a dreary day the garden is worth visiting with the sweeping lawn which gives way to a dramatic series of terraces andherbaceous borders and descends to a kitchen garden and tranquil water garden.
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